Postgraduate Publishing studies at Edinburgh Napier University. INDUSTRY APPROVED Publishing degrees (accredited by the Professional Publishers Association and Creative Skillset). MSc Publishing was the first Publishing programme in the UK to be accredited by the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). It is now accredited by Creative Skillset (only one of two courses to hold this award). MSc Magazine Publishing is the only course of its kind in Scotland and is the only publishing course in the UK to be accredited by the PPA. The PPA is the lead body for best practice in training, development and people management for the magazine and business media industry.

A couple of Spring 2011 highlights

The Spring trimester is a busy one for Edinburgh Napier Publishing students, but also offers some fun opportunities.

On 21 February 2011, several students from Edinburgh Napier attended Publishing Scotland’s annual conference.

This year’s theme was “Publish Locally, Sell Globally”.

It was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet professionals in the Scottish publishing industry.

We heard speeches from Anne MacColl, CEO of Scottish Development International, on how to market the Scottish publishing industry to the world market. Anne suggested that Scottish publishers need to embrace new digital content and publish in foreign languages to increase their international market.

Steve Bohme, Research Director for BML Bowker, followed Anne. His presentation was the favourite for the day. Steve gave a powerpoint presentation on the Publisher’s Association yearbook in the form of a tennis match with Scotland as Andy Murray. I’m not allowed to give specifics, as they will not release this information until their conference in May. However, it was very informative and the Scottish publishing industry is healthy.

The main issue of the conference was digital publishing. The consensus being that printed books will not suddenly vanish, but a publisher needs to foray into digital to remain active in today’s publishing world.

The afternoon featured break-out sessions and the Edinburgh Napier students were treated to a panel featuring Bob McDevitt and Marion Sinclair, CE of Publishing Scotland. They answered our questions about getting started in publishing, employment opportunities, and the necessary skills for success. Bob and Marion emphasized the importance of gaining skills in the digital area, learning business and finance, and gaining experience in London publishing.

It was a very informative day.

On March 4th, the Scottish Centre for the Book threw a Pirate Party for local schoolchildren to celebrate World Book Day. Several of the publishing students volunteered to help out. We directed the kids to the Turmeau Hall, where there was a very talented balloon man to make swords for them and a wonderful face painter. The girls chose butterflies and the boys chose the pirate look, complete with five o’clock shadow. Very cute.

All ready for the kids.

Local schoolchildren had a Map-drawing contest and the winners received prizes. The banners in the photo above are made up of the maps submitted. The imaginations of these children was amazing.

A treasure chest! More maps on the wall behind.With special pirate cupcakes!Argh! A yummy treat!

Some of the volunteers even dressed up!

Most wore stripped shirts. Except for me.

All in all a great afternoon!

The publishing programme at Edinburgh Napier offers many learning experiences and some are just plain fun.